Nintendo may die, but they're not going down without a long hard fight (and I can only hope it'll be a good one).
Nintendo had a lot to compete with at E3, from Bethesda's killer conference which made Fallout 4 look like the hands-down best gaming experience to come, to Microsoft's backwards compatibility announcement and Sony's delivering of long-forgotten promises in the forms of The Last Guardian and a true Final Fantasy VII remake. It didn't help that Nintendo had nearly the final major conference, with only Square Enix and the PC Gaming show following it.
I loved the Nintendo World Championships event. It was a great throwback to that original crazy and nearly infamous event from 25 years ago. The Nintendo magic which keeps a lot of people attached to the company was clearly present at that competition. Even that annoying little kid who barely spoke English but insisted on narrating the Splatoon matches cracked me up. I wasn't surprised to see Cosmo Wight, who basically does speedrunning as a career, in the finals, but it was fun nonetheless.
Like last year, Nintendo went for the flash with their digital event. I think hosting their conference digitally was a great choice as it gave them time to prepare their content and combine it with some flashiness (although the content part was very lacking). The Muppet-style opening was hilarious. I laughed at it for the littlest things even, from Iwata and Miyamoto's broken English to the Nintendo trio's gangsta walk on stage. It was the level of hilarity I've come to expect from Nintendo these days.
The Star Fox Zero reveal was magnificent. This was the only part of the conference which Nintendo managed to nail. Finally, a true sequel to Star Fox 64? That's the kind of thing fans asked for. It even looked like it could be the first Wii U game to actually use the gamepad beneficially in a big Nintendo franchise (more on the gamepad later). I enjoyed Miyamoto's reflections on the inspiration behind Star Fox, even though they felt a little out of place in the digital event. But now, we get into the negatives of the event...
After Star Fox, we got a few amiibo announcements, none of which were all that exciting-- I really think Skylanders has little to no place in a Nintendo event, though I support the concept of gradually merging amiibo with Skylanders.
Then, as you see Mario transform into Link in the little trailer, we all get excited for a new Zelda game. But unfortunately I am not very interested in this game. It's the gameplay of Four Swords with the ALBW graphics. I didn't really like Four Swords, and as people are becoming less and less social physically and more so digitally the local multiplayer concept is getting outdated. And this raises more questions about voice chat. Is Nintendo going to disregard the need for this kind of thing in an online game yet again? For their sake I hope not. But hopefully this game can exceed the value of my initial reaction, I'm always open to new Zelda games.
Speaking of Zelda, who asked for Hyrule Warriors on the 3DS? Nobody? Oh. Sorry about that. I could not care less about this game, nor do I want to play it with worse graphics than it already has on a portable system. I could go through the reasons not to like Hyrule Warriors (psst it's not a real zelda game) but I'd rather not and I hope you understand why I see no worth in the game as a portable title.
Okay. Let me just begin with this part by saying that I don't support any kind of petition to cancel this game. That is ridiculous. But I really thought we were due for a true Metroid Prime game on the Wii U, not the 3DS, and not a co-op game. Oh well. We know little to nothing about this game and I guess we should wait for more details without passing judgments.
I am very excited for Fire Emblem Fates. The story is looking really interesting and all the controversy surrounding the game just makes me want to play it even more. Can't wait for its release.
Xenoblade Chronicles X does look massive and pretty fun, but we've heard enough about that game already.
Next up were not one, but two Animal Crossing spinoffs. Neither of which I cared about.
Yoshi's Wooly World looks cute, but the reviews have been so-so. I'll have to wait and see on that one. Again, everyone already knew about this.
NOW we're talking. Mario & Luigi x Paper Mario? Two of Nintendo's funniest, most cult classic series coming together? Yes please. This game is going to be tons of fun, I just know it, and I'm really excited for it.
Blah blah mario tennis. Nuff said.
And more stuff about Mario Maker, which looks really fucking fun, but it almost seems like it was just taking up time to fill the gap in content. Again, we know so much about this game already.
And then that's it. No big game announcement in the end, just some super mario website.
I really think that Star Fox and Paper Mario were the only two big announcements in the event, which sucked a lot. The Wii U's library is looking bare as it was when it was released. Which brings me to my next point.
Is the Wii U finally dead for real? Nintendo seems to think so. It's confusing, though. Star Fox seems to be attempting to save the Wii U whereas Nintendo seems to be condemning it in some of their stockholder meetings. It seems that Star Fox is going to be a sort of last hurrah for the Wii U, as evidence seems to be pointing that Zelda Wii U will be a cross-platform title with the NX a la Twilight Princess.
The Wii U was disappointing for a lot of reasons. Nintendo seemed to be promoting the gamepad as an innovation in gaming like they did with the Wii; the difference is, the Wii actually succeeded. The problem is, Nintendo has already done the two screens thing with the DS line-- and they do it very well, as the 3DS is proving to be a great success with an actually pretty decent library. The core Nintendo franchises on the Wii U barely make use of the gamepad. Smash 4 does nothing with it, nor does Mario Kart 8 or Super Mario 3D World (except in a certain few levels). Pikmin 3 might be an exception.
It's like Nintendo is trying to promote the Wii U as both a platform for classic franchises but also some kind of gaming revolution; I think Nintendo could do a better job picking its focus. I wish the gamepad hadn't been part of the system. I wish for that dearly. Really, it sounded like something cool on paper, but the Wii U's library just wasn't big enough to accommodate it. It also did a great job of raising the Wii U's price point, something which clearly didn't help push units.
I'm hoping that the NX can push Nintendo in the right direction. Rumors point to a $150 console, which would be a great decision by Nintendo; however, that means the system may not be too powerful. Honestly, I could give a shit about power if Nintendo just makes games for the system this time around. I really think Nintendo still has a chance in the market, there are plenty of Nintendo fans out there still willing to spend money on good games. I doubt the system will be a fusion of handheld and console; Nintendo wouldn't dare to jeopardize their booming handheld business. But with that low a price point, a strategy along those lines may just work.
Anyway, that's all for now. Such a long rant, and I hope someone takes the time to read it, lol. If not, I'm satisfied with getting all this out onto paper somewhere, even if the ideas aren't revolutionary.
Nintendo had a lot to compete with at E3, from Bethesda's killer conference which made Fallout 4 look like the hands-down best gaming experience to come, to Microsoft's backwards compatibility announcement and Sony's delivering of long-forgotten promises in the forms of The Last Guardian and a true Final Fantasy VII remake. It didn't help that Nintendo had nearly the final major conference, with only Square Enix and the PC Gaming show following it.
I loved the Nintendo World Championships event. It was a great throwback to that original crazy and nearly infamous event from 25 years ago. The Nintendo magic which keeps a lot of people attached to the company was clearly present at that competition. Even that annoying little kid who barely spoke English but insisted on narrating the Splatoon matches cracked me up. I wasn't surprised to see Cosmo Wight, who basically does speedrunning as a career, in the finals, but it was fun nonetheless.
Like last year, Nintendo went for the flash with their digital event. I think hosting their conference digitally was a great choice as it gave them time to prepare their content and combine it with some flashiness (although the content part was very lacking). The Muppet-style opening was hilarious. I laughed at it for the littlest things even, from Iwata and Miyamoto's broken English to the Nintendo trio's gangsta walk on stage. It was the level of hilarity I've come to expect from Nintendo these days.
The Star Fox Zero reveal was magnificent. This was the only part of the conference which Nintendo managed to nail. Finally, a true sequel to Star Fox 64? That's the kind of thing fans asked for. It even looked like it could be the first Wii U game to actually use the gamepad beneficially in a big Nintendo franchise (more on the gamepad later). I enjoyed Miyamoto's reflections on the inspiration behind Star Fox, even though they felt a little out of place in the digital event. But now, we get into the negatives of the event...
After Star Fox, we got a few amiibo announcements, none of which were all that exciting-- I really think Skylanders has little to no place in a Nintendo event, though I support the concept of gradually merging amiibo with Skylanders.
Then, as you see Mario transform into Link in the little trailer, we all get excited for a new Zelda game. But unfortunately I am not very interested in this game. It's the gameplay of Four Swords with the ALBW graphics. I didn't really like Four Swords, and as people are becoming less and less social physically and more so digitally the local multiplayer concept is getting outdated. And this raises more questions about voice chat. Is Nintendo going to disregard the need for this kind of thing in an online game yet again? For their sake I hope not. But hopefully this game can exceed the value of my initial reaction, I'm always open to new Zelda games.
Speaking of Zelda, who asked for Hyrule Warriors on the 3DS? Nobody? Oh. Sorry about that. I could not care less about this game, nor do I want to play it with worse graphics than it already has on a portable system. I could go through the reasons not to like Hyrule Warriors (psst it's not a real zelda game) but I'd rather not and I hope you understand why I see no worth in the game as a portable title.
Okay. Let me just begin with this part by saying that I don't support any kind of petition to cancel this game. That is ridiculous. But I really thought we were due for a true Metroid Prime game on the Wii U, not the 3DS, and not a co-op game. Oh well. We know little to nothing about this game and I guess we should wait for more details without passing judgments.
I am very excited for Fire Emblem Fates. The story is looking really interesting and all the controversy surrounding the game just makes me want to play it even more. Can't wait for its release.
Xenoblade Chronicles X does look massive and pretty fun, but we've heard enough about that game already.
Next up were not one, but two Animal Crossing spinoffs. Neither of which I cared about.
Yoshi's Wooly World looks cute, but the reviews have been so-so. I'll have to wait and see on that one. Again, everyone already knew about this.
NOW we're talking. Mario & Luigi x Paper Mario? Two of Nintendo's funniest, most cult classic series coming together? Yes please. This game is going to be tons of fun, I just know it, and I'm really excited for it.
Blah blah mario tennis. Nuff said.
And more stuff about Mario Maker, which looks really fucking fun, but it almost seems like it was just taking up time to fill the gap in content. Again, we know so much about this game already.
And then that's it. No big game announcement in the end, just some super mario website.
I really think that Star Fox and Paper Mario were the only two big announcements in the event, which sucked a lot. The Wii U's library is looking bare as it was when it was released. Which brings me to my next point.
Is the Wii U finally dead for real? Nintendo seems to think so. It's confusing, though. Star Fox seems to be attempting to save the Wii U whereas Nintendo seems to be condemning it in some of their stockholder meetings. It seems that Star Fox is going to be a sort of last hurrah for the Wii U, as evidence seems to be pointing that Zelda Wii U will be a cross-platform title with the NX a la Twilight Princess.
The Wii U was disappointing for a lot of reasons. Nintendo seemed to be promoting the gamepad as an innovation in gaming like they did with the Wii; the difference is, the Wii actually succeeded. The problem is, Nintendo has already done the two screens thing with the DS line-- and they do it very well, as the 3DS is proving to be a great success with an actually pretty decent library. The core Nintendo franchises on the Wii U barely make use of the gamepad. Smash 4 does nothing with it, nor does Mario Kart 8 or Super Mario 3D World (except in a certain few levels). Pikmin 3 might be an exception.
It's like Nintendo is trying to promote the Wii U as both a platform for classic franchises but also some kind of gaming revolution; I think Nintendo could do a better job picking its focus. I wish the gamepad hadn't been part of the system. I wish for that dearly. Really, it sounded like something cool on paper, but the Wii U's library just wasn't big enough to accommodate it. It also did a great job of raising the Wii U's price point, something which clearly didn't help push units.
I'm hoping that the NX can push Nintendo in the right direction. Rumors point to a $150 console, which would be a great decision by Nintendo; however, that means the system may not be too powerful. Honestly, I could give a shit about power if Nintendo just makes games for the system this time around. I really think Nintendo still has a chance in the market, there are plenty of Nintendo fans out there still willing to spend money on good games. I doubt the system will be a fusion of handheld and console; Nintendo wouldn't dare to jeopardize their booming handheld business. But with that low a price point, a strategy along those lines may just work.
Anyway, that's all for now. Such a long rant, and I hope someone takes the time to read it, lol. If not, I'm satisfied with getting all this out onto paper somewhere, even if the ideas aren't revolutionary.
